• Lan Yao, Dongfang Wang, Qingyan Fu, Liping Qiao, Hongli Wang, Li Li, Wenwen Sun, Qing Li, Lin Wang, Xin Yang, Zhuohui Zhao, Haidong Kan, Aiyong Xian, Gehui Wang, Hang Xiao, and Jianmin Chen.
• Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
• Environ Int. 2019 May 1; 126: 96-106.

AbstractFireworks displays are a traditional form of celebration during the Chinese Spring Festival (Festival). In response to the heavy air pollution caused by fireworks, Shanghai, a megacity in China, has imposed regulatory measures on the use of fireworks in recent years. To investigate air quality trends before and after firework regulation was established and quantify its efficiency, gaseous pollutants, PM2.5 levels, and PM2.5 chemical composition were synchronously measured at 1 h time intervals at an urban site and a suburban site in Shanghai in the period during and around the Festival from 2013 to 2017. PM2.5 concentrations at the urban site during the Festival over the five-year period were 79 (max: 524), 94 (290), 53 (163), 50 (146) and 32 (156) μg/m3, respectively, presenting a decreasing trend at a rate of -13.8 μg/m3/yr (p = 0.05). K+ concentrations, which serve as a tracer of fireworks, were 8.2 (max: 159.4), 2.5 (14.6), 2.2 (10.4), 4.3 (44.2) and 0.8 (4.5) μg/m3 during the Festival from 2013 to 2017, respectively, and thus decreased at a rate of -1.3 μg/m3/yr (p = 0.17). Accordingly, fireworks contributed 41 (51.9%), 38 (36.5%), 6 (10.3%), 21 (35.6%), and 4 μg/m3 (12.1%) to PM2.5, respectively, implying the effectiveness of firework regulation in Shanghai. Health effects attributed to PM2.5 pollution in Shanghai during the Festival were assessed based on Poisson regression. The number of premature deaths related to short-term PM2.5 exposure in Shanghai during the Festival from 2013 to 2017 was 75 (95% CI: 27, 108), 92 (30, 129), 55 (18, 76), 49 (19, 70), and 31 (12, 45), respectively. Daily mortality due to PM2.5 exposure during the Festival from 2013 to 2017 accounted for 1.4-3.8% of total daily mortality in Shanghai. This study provides scientific evidence of air quality improvement and the effectiveness of firework regulation in Shanghai.Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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